Management of media content availability

ABSTRACT

Various embodiments relating to managing media content availability in a playlist are provided. In one embodiment a playlist including a plurality of media content items may be received. Media content items included in the playlist that are not accessible due to a lack of access rights may be identified as inaccessible media content items. For each inaccessible media content item, if a different version of that inaccessible media content item is available as an accessible media content item, that inaccessible media content item may be replaced with the accessible media content item in the playlist.

CROSS REFERENCE TO RELATED APPLICATIONS

This application claims priority to U.S. Provisional Patent ApplicationNo. 61/655,406, filed Jun. 4, 2012 and entitled MULTI-SCREEN MEDIADELIVERY, the entirety of which is hereby incorporated herein byreference for all purposes.

BACKGROUND

A shared list of items may be accessed by multiple different clients indifferent regions and across different markets. For example, clients mayhave subscriptions to consume various items, and may curate lists ofitems that may be shared with each other. Some subscriptions may havedifferent access rights to access different items. In some cases, when aproviding client shares a list of items with a receiving client, someitems in the shared list may be inaccessible by the receiving client dueto a lack of access rights (e.g., due to a different subscription,different access rights for a different market, etc.).

SUMMARY

This Summary is provided to introduce a selection of concepts in asimplified form that are further described below in the DetailedDescription. This Summary is not intended to identify key features oressential features of the claimed subject matter, nor is it intended tobe used to limit the scope of the claimed subject matter. Furthermore,the claimed subject matter is not limited to implementations that solveany or all disadvantages noted in any part of this disclosure.

Various embodiments relating to managing media content availability in aplaylist are provided. In one embodiment, a playlist including aplurality of media content items may be received. Media content itemsincluded in the playlist that are not accessible due to a lack of accessrights may be identified as inaccessible media content items. For eachinaccessible media content item, if a different version of thatinaccessible media content item is available as an accessible mediacontent item, that inaccessible media content item may be replaced withthe accessible media content item in the playlist.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

FIG. 1 shows a computing system according to an embodiment of thepresent disclosure.

FIG. 2 shows a method of managing media content availability in aplaylist according to an embodiment of the present disclosure.

FIG. 3 shows a computing system according to an embodiment of thepresent disclosure.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION

The present description relates to managing availability of mediacontent in shared playlists based on access rights that allow access tothe media content. More particularly, the present description relates tomanaging availability of media content in shared playlists by replacinginaccessible media content with alternative media content that isaccessible. For example, an inaccessible media content item may bereplaced with a different version of the inaccessible media content itemthat may be available for consumption and may be accessible inaccordance with a licensing regime that dictates the access rights.Moreover, if the different version of the inaccessible media contentitem is unavailable for consumption, other mitigation operations may beperformed to provide a suitable alternative media content item in theplaylist. By replacing an inaccessible media content item with anaccessible media content item in a playlist, the playlist may be sharedseamlessly without having missing media content items.

FIG. 1 shows a computing system 100 in accordance with an embodiment ofthe present disclosure. The computing system 100 is configured toprovide media content items 102 from one or more media contentmanagement service computing machines 104 (referred to herein as the‘media content management service’) to a plurality of client computingmachines 106 (referred to herein as the ‘clients’) over a network 108,such as the Internet. For example, the plurality of media content itemsmay include at least one of audio content items or video content items.More particularly, the plurality of media content items may includesongs, movies, television shows, games, and the like. Each of theplurality of clients may access media content items from the mediacontent management service. It should be understood that virtually anynumber of different clients may access media content items fromvirtually any number of different media content management servicecomputing machines without departing from the scope of this disclosure.Non-limiting examples of client computing machines may include desktopcomputers, laptop computers, smart phones, tablet computers, gamingconsoles, set-top boxes, networked televisions, networked stereos,mobile devices, and any other suitable computing device.

The media content management service 104 may be configured to store,track, and allow access to media content items 102 across the pluralityof clients 106. The media content management service 104 may include acatalog 110 that includes a plurality of media content items. In oneexample, the catalog includes all media content items that are offeredby the media content management service according to licensingagreements the media content management service has with media contentproviders (e.g., music labels, movie studios, etc.). It is to beunderstood that although a media content item may be offered by themedia content management service, that media content item may beinaccessible to some clients due to a lack of access rights that allowaccess to the media content item.

Each media content item 102 of the plurality of media content items mayinclude an individualized content identifier 112 that identifies themedia content item and allows retrieval of access rights for the mediacontent item. The access rights for a media content item may definewhich clients may access the media content item. For example, the accessrights for a media content item may be based on a client, an accessmechanism (e.g., a subscription), a market, a region, a country, oranother suitable access parameter. For example, a media content item maybe inaccessible to a client, because the client does notown/rent/subscribe to that particular media content item. In anotherexample, a media content item may be accessible in one market, but thesame media content item may be inaccessible in another market. In somecases, different media content items may include the same content, butmay be differentiated by different access rights, such as for differentmarkets. In one example, the same song may be provided by one contentprovider in the United States and another content provider in France,and this same song may be entered twice in the catalog under differentidentifiers with different access rights. In some cases, the accessrights may be defined by the media content management service. In somecases, the access rights may be defined by the content provider based onthe licensing agreement for the media content item.

Such access rights may be implemented via digital license enforcementthat utilizes cryptographic encryption. For example, a media contentitem may be cryptographically encrypted and associated with a particularlicense. Only particular users, domains (e.g., geographic domains), orother entities specified in the license may be provided withcryptographic keys capable of decrypting the encrypted media contentitem.

In some embodiments, the media content management service may beconfigured to establish relationships that identify all tracks that areconsidered identical in the catalog, but are from different contentproviders, have different access rights, and/or other licensingdifferences. Although these media content items are treated differentlyby the media content management service, the relationships allow thesemedia content items to be linked and identified as the same mediacontent from the perspective of the client. In other words, a mediacontent item may be replaced by another related media content itemwithout the client being able to perceive any difference.

The plurality of media content items included in the catalog may beaccessible by a client through various access mechanisms that, in somecases, may be granted different access rights. For example, theplurality of media content items included in the catalog may beaccessible by a client via at least one of free persistent download,purchased persistent download, subscription persistent download,subscription non-persistent download, or free non-persistent download.The free persistent download access rights may allow a client topersistently download a media content item for immediate playback or forplayback at a later time as desired without any associated cost. Thepurchased persistent download access rights may allow a client topersistently download a media content item for immediate playback or forplayback at a later time as desired upon paying an associated cost. Insome cases, the purchased persistent download access rights may be aone-time purchase. The subscription persistent download access rightsmay allow a client to persistently download a media content item forimmediate playback or for playback at a later time as long as thesubscription is active. For example, a subscription may remain active aslong as a client has opted into the subscription, paid any associatedcosts, etc. For persistent downloads, a media content item may remainstored on the client computing machine even after playback. In somecases, a persistent download may be temporary. For example, a mediacontent item may be downloaded to a client for a subscription or rentalperiod and upon expiration of the subscription, the media content itemmay be deleted. In other cases, the media content item may remain on theclient after expiration of the subscription, and the media content itemmay become inaccessible (e.g., until the subscription is renewed).

The subscription non-persistent download access rights may allow aclient to temporarily download a media content item for immediateplayback (i.e., streaming) as long as the subscription is active. Thefree non-persistent download access rights may allow a client totemporarily download a media content item for immediate playback asdesired without any associated cost. It is to be understood that theabove described media content access mechanisms may have differentaccess rights for different media content items. For example, in somecases, a media content item that may not be accessible vianon-persistent download may be accessible via persistent download. It isto be understood that any suitable access mechanism may be employed toaccess a media content item without departing from the scope of thisdisclosure.

Various media content items 102 from the catalog 110 may be organizedinto playlists 114 that may be shared among clients. For example, theplaylists may be ordered playlists of music tracks or music videos. Insome instances, the playlists may include pointers that point to astorage location of media content items and the playlists may notactually include media data of the media content items in the playlists.For example, such storage locations may be local to the client, remotelylocated at the media content management service, or remotely located atanother computing machine (e.g., via a remote URL). Typically, aplaylist may include a subset of media content items from the catalog.For example, a playlist may include a client's entire personalcollection of media content items. As another example, a playlist mayinclude all songs performed by a particular artist. It is to beunderstood that a playlist may include any suitable combination of mediacontent items. In some cases, a playlist may include a combination ofpersistently downloaded media content items and non-persistentlydownloaded media content items. In some cases, a playlist may be createdby a client. In some cases, a playlist may be created by the mediacontent management service, such as based on consumption characteristicsof one or more clients.

The media content management service may be configured to manage mediacontent availability in a playlist. For example, a providing client mayindicate that they want to share a playlist with a receiving client, andthe playlist may be sent to the media content management service tohandle any issues with availability of media content items in theplaylist before the playlist is passed on to the receiving client. Inanother example, the playlist may be sent directly from the providingclient to the receiving client, and the receiving client may send theplaylist to the media content management service to handle any issues,before the playlist of media content items may be consumed by thereceiving client. In another example, a client may find a playlist, suchas through a third-party website (e.g., music service, social network,etc.), and the playlist may be sent to the media content managementservice to handle any issues with availability of media content items inthe playlist before the playlist is passed on to the client forconsumption. In another example, a playlist may originate from outsideof the media content management service ecosystem, and the playlist maybe sent to the media content management service to handle any issuesbefore the playlist of media content items may be consumed by a client.For example, a playlist may be received in a non-native format (e.g., atextual listing of songs), converted into a native format (e.g., alisting of media content item IDs), and processed as herein described.

In one example, the media content management service may be configuredto receive a playlist including a plurality of media content items. Themedia content management service may be configured to identify, asinaccessible media content items, those media content items included inthe playlist that are not accessible due to a lack of access rights. Forexample, the providing client and the receiving client may be located indifferent markets, and the inaccessible media content items may not beaccessible in the market of the receiving client due to a lack of accessrights for that market. As another example, the lack of access rightsmay be due to a particular access mechanism that the receiving client isusing to access the media content items in the playlist. For example, amedia content item may be inaccessible via non-persistent download. Insome cases, a client may receive the media content bits or data, and thebits may be stored at the client. However, the media content item maynot be accessed or consumed (e.g., decrypted) by the client due to alack of access rights. The media content management service may beconfigured to for each inaccessible media content item, if a differentversion of that inaccessible media content item is available as anaccessible media content item, replace that inaccessible media contentitem with the accessible media content item in the playlist.

If the different version of that inaccessible media content item is notavailable, the media content management service may be configured toreplace that inaccessible media content item with another media contentitem or perform another mitigation operation. For example, the mediacontent management service may be configured to replace thatinaccessible media content item with an available media content itemhaving a similarity association with that inaccessible media contentitem in the playlist. For example, the similarity association mayinclude one of a different song by an artist of the inaccessible mediacontent item, a different video by an artist of the inaccessible mediacontent item, a song by a different artist that is similar to an artistof the inaccessible media content item, or a video by a different artistthat is similar to an artist of the inaccessible media content item. Itis to be understood that any suitable characteristic may be used todetermine a similarity association between media content items withoutdeparting from this description.

In another example, if the different version of that inaccessible mediacontent item is not available, the media content management service maybe configured to replace that inaccessible media content item with apreview media content item that is a partial version of the inaccessiblemedia content item. For example, if the inaccessible media content itemis a complete song, then the preview media content items may include apartial sample (e.g., 30 seconds) of the song.

In another example, if the different version of the inaccessible mediacontent item is not available, the media content management service maybe configured to offer for purchase a persistent download of theinaccessible media content item that allows the inaccessible mediacontent item to be accessed. For example, the client may benon-persistently downloading the playlist for consumption via asubscription, and the access rights of the inaccessible media contentitem may dictate that the media content item is inaccessible viasubscription non-persistent download. However, the access rights of themedia content item may dictate that the media content may be accessiblevia purchased persistent download. Thus, by purchasing the persistentdownload of the inaccessible media content item, the client may consumethe media content item as part of the playlist. In some cases, theclient may non-persistently download the bits of the inaccessible mediacontent item, and the media content item may not be accessible (e.g.,decrypted) by the client due to a lack of access rights.

The illustrated embodiment depicts an example scenario where a providingclient 116 located in a market A creates a playlist 114, and shares theplaylist with a receiving client 118 located in market B, which differsfrom market A. For example, market A may be the United States and marketB may be France. The playlist includes a plurality of media contentitems, and each media content item has access rights that define inwhich markets that media content item is accessible. Some of the mediacontent items in the playlist are not accessible in market B due to alack of access rights for market B. However, each media content itemincluded in the playlist may be accessible in market A, in which theplaylist was curated by the providing client.

The media content management service may receive the playlist from theproviding client. The media content management service may identifyinaccessible media content items in the playlist. For example, the mediacontent management service may use the individualized contentidentifiers of the media content items to retrieve the access rights forthe media content items, and check the access rights against market B todetermine which media content items in the playlist are inaccessible inmarket B. Furthermore, the media content management service maydetermine which access mechanism the receiving client is using toconsume the playlist, and check the access rights against the accessmechanism to determine which media content items are inaccessible viathat access mechanism.

For each inaccessible media content item, if a different version of thatinaccessible media content item that has access rights for market B isavailable, the media content management service replaces thatinaccessible media content item with the accessible media content itemin the playlist. If a different version of that inaccessible mediacontent item that has access rights for market B is unavailable, themedia content management service performs a mitigation operation toreplace the inaccessible media content item or make the inaccessiblemedia content item accessible. Once all of the inaccessible mediacontent items in the playlist are accounted for, the media contentmanagement service sends or otherwise makes available the playlist tothe receiving client computing machine.

Accordingly, the receiving client may consume the playlist in the sameor similar form in which it was curated by the providing client withoutany media content items missing from the playlist. By building supportfor social playlists in an international ecosystem, the media contentmanagement service appropriately handles the different availabilityrights offered to users in different markets for the same content. Thissystem provides users with the most appropriate content for their marketwhen they consume a social playlist that includes content from anothermarket.

FIG. 2 shows a method 200 of managing media content availability in aplaylist according to an embodiment of the present disclosure. Forexample, the method 200 may be performed by the media content managementservice computing machine 104 shown in FIG. 1.

At 202, the method 200 may include receiving a playlist including aplurality of media content items. The playlist may be received via acomputer network, such as computer network 108 of FIG. 1. The playlistmay be a machine-readable data item that is not easily readable by ahuman without the assistance of a computing system.

At 204, the method 200 may include identifying, as inaccessible mediacontent items, those media content items included in the playlist thatare not accessible due to a lack of access rights. Such identificationsmay be performed using computer comparison algorithms that allow aparticular content item to be almost instantaneously compared to allmedia content items in the catalog.

In some embodiments, once an inaccessible media content item has beenidentified, the inaccessible media content item may be mitigatedindividually. Each inaccessible media content item may be mitigateduntil all inaccessible media content items have been mitigated.

Continuing with the method 200, a first inaccessible media content itemmay be mitigated. In particular, at 206, the method 200 may includedetermining whether a different version of the inaccessible mediacontent item is available as an accessible media content item. Forexample, a different version of the inaccessible media content item mayinclude a media content item that includes the same media content (e.g.,the same version of a song), but has different access rights that allowthe different version of the media content item to be accessed. If adifferent version of that inaccessible media content item is availableas an accessible media content item, the method 200 moves to 208.Otherwise the method 200 moves to 210.

At 208, the method 200 may include replacing that inaccessible mediacontent item with the accessible media content item in the playlist.

If a different version of the inaccessible media content item is notavailable, then the method 200 may perform a mitigation operation toreplace or otherwise address the inaccessible media content item. Insome embodiments, at 210, the method 200 may include replacing theinaccessible media content item with an available media content itemthat is thought to provide a reasonable substitute for the inaccessiblemedia content item. For example, a particular song from a particularartist that is not accessible may be replaced by another song from thesame artist that is accessible. The replacement media content item maybe selected based on a similarity association with the inaccessiblemedia content item in the playlist. For example, the similarityassociation may include one of a different song by an artist of theinaccessible media content item, a different video by an artist of theinaccessible media content item, a song by a different artist that issimilar to an artist of the inaccessible media content item, or a videoby a different artist that is similar to an artist of the inaccessiblemedia content item.

In some embodiments, at 212, the method 200 may include replacing theinaccessible media content item with a preview media content item thatis a partial version of the inaccessible media content item.

In some embodiments, at 214, the method 200 may include offering forpurchase a persistent download of the inaccessible media content itemthat allows the inaccessible media content item to be accessed.

It is to be understood that some or all of the above describedmitigation operations may be included in the method without departingfrom this disclosure.

At 216, the method 200 may include determining whether all inaccessiblemedia content items in the playlist have been replaced or otherwisemitigated. If all inaccessible media content items in the playlist havebeen replaced or otherwise mitigated, then the method 200 returns toother operations. If not all inaccessible media content items in theplaylist have been replaced or otherwise mitigated, then the method 200moves to 218.

At 218, the method 200 may includes moving to a next inaccessible mediacontent item in the playlist to continue the mitigation process. Inparticular, the method 200 returns to 206.

By replacing inaccessible media content in a playlist with differentversions of the inaccessible content that are accessible, the playlistmay be consumed in the form in which it was curated without any mediacontent items missing from the playlist. Moreover, by performing othermitigation operations to replace inaccessible media content in theplaylist if a different version is not available, the playlist may bemodified to include media content that is most appropriate forconsumption without merely removing inaccessible content.

FIG. 3 schematically shows a non-limiting embodiment of a computingsystem 300 that can enact one or more of the methods and processesdescribed above. For example, computing system 300 may be representativeof the media content management service computing machine 104, or theplurality of client computing machines 106 shown in FIG. 1. Computingsystem 300 is shown in simplified form. Computing system 300 may takethe form of one or more personal computers, server computers, tabletcomputers, home-entertainment computers, network computing devices,gaming devices, mobile computing devices, mobile communication devices(e.g., smart phone), and/or other computing devices.

Computing system 300 includes a logic machine 302 and a storage machine304. Computing system 300 may optionally include a display subsystem306, input subsystem 308, communication subsystem 310, and/or othercomponents not shown in FIG. 3.

Logic machine 302 includes one or more physical devices configured toexecute instructions. For example, the logic machine may be configuredto execute instructions that are part of one or more applications,services, programs, routines, libraries, objects, components, datastructures, or other logical constructs. Such instructions may beimplemented to perform a task, implement a data type, transform thestate of one or more components, achieve a technical effect, orotherwise arrive at a desired result.

The logic machine may include one or more processors configured toexecute software instructions. Additionally or alternatively, the logicmachine may include one or more hardware or firmware logic machinesconfigured to execute hardware or firmware instructions. Processors ofthe logic machine may be single-core or multi-core, and the instructionsexecuted thereon may be configured for sequential, parallel, and/ordistributed processing. Individual components of the logic machineoptionally may be distributed among two or more separate devices, whichmay be remotely located and/or configured for coordinated processing.Aspects of the logic machine may be virtualized and executed by remotelyaccessible, networked computing devices configured in a cloud-computingconfiguration.

Storage machine 304 includes one or more physical devices configured tohold instructions executable by the logic machine to implement themethods and processes described herein. When such methods and processesare implemented, the state of storage machine 304 may betransformed—e.g., to hold different data.

Storage machine 304 may include removable and/or built-in devices.Storage machine 304 may include optical memory (e.g., CD, DVD, HD-DVD,Blu-Ray Disc, etc.), semiconductor memory (e.g., RAM, EPROM, EEPROM,etc.), and/or magnetic memory (e.g., hard-disk drive, floppy-disk drive,tape drive, MRAM, etc.), among others. Storage machine 304 may includevolatile, nonvolatile, dynamic, static, read/write, read-only,random-access, sequential-access, location-addressable,file-addressable, and/or content-addressable devices.

It will be appreciated that storage machine 304 includes one or morephysical devices. However, aspects of the instructions described hereinalternatively may be propagated by a communication medium (e.g., anelectromagnetic signal, an optical signal, etc.) that is not held by aphysical device for a finite duration.

Aspects of logic machine 302 and storage machine 304 may be integratedtogether into one or more hardware-logic components. Such hardware-logiccomponents may include field-programmable gate arrays (FPGAs), program-and application-specific integrated circuits (PASIC/ASICs), program- andapplication-specific standard products (PSSP/ASSPs), system-on-a-chip(SOC), and complex programmable logic devices (CPLDs), for example.

It will be appreciated that a “service”, as used herein, is anapplication program executable across multiple user sessions. A servicemay be available to one or more system components, programs, and/orother services. In some implementations, a service may run on one ormore server-computing devices.

When included, display subsystem 306 may be used to present a visualrepresentation of data held by storage machine 304. This visualrepresentation may take the form of a graphical user interface (GUI). Asthe herein described methods and processes change the data held by thestorage machine, and thus transform the state of the storage machine,the state of display subsystem 306 may likewise be transformed tovisually represent changes in the underlying data. Display subsystem 306may include one or more display devices utilizing virtually any type oftechnology. Such display devices may be combined with logic machine 302and/or storage machine 304 in a shared enclosure, or such displaydevices may be peripheral display devices.

When included, input subsystem 308 may comprise or interface with one ormore user-input devices such as a keyboard, mouse, touch screen, or gamecontroller. In some embodiments, the input subsystem may comprise orinterface with selected natural user input (NUI) componentry. Suchcomponentry may be integrated or peripheral, and the transduction and/orprocessing of input actions may be handled on- or off-board. Example NUIcomponentry may include a microphone for speech and/or voicerecognition; an infrared, color, stereoscopic, and/or depth camera formachine vision and/or gesture recognition; a head tracker, eye tracker,accelerometer, and/or gyroscope for motion detection and/or intentrecognition; as well as electric-field sensing componentry for assessingbrain activity.

When included, communication subsystem 310 may be configured tocommunicatively couple computing system 300 with one or more othercomputing devices. Communication subsystem 310 may include wired and/orwireless communication devices compatible with one or more differentcommunication protocols. As non-limiting examples, the communicationsubsystem may be configured for communication via a wireless telephonenetwork, or a wired or wireless local- or wide-area network. In someembodiments, the communication subsystem may allow computing system 300to send and/or receive messages to and/or from other devices via anetwork such as the Internet.

It will be understood that the configurations and/or approachesdescribed herein are exemplary in nature, and that these specificembodiments or examples are not to be considered in a limiting sense,because numerous variations are possible. The specific routines ormethods described herein may represent one or more of any number ofprocessing strategies. As such, various acts illustrated and/ordescribed may be performed in the sequence illustrated and/or described,in other sequences, in parallel, or omitted. Likewise, the order of theabove-described processes may be changed.

The subject matter of the present disclosure includes all novel andnonobvious combinations and subcombinations of the various processes,systems and configurations, and other features, functions, acts, and/orproperties disclosed herein, as well as any and all equivalents thereof.

1. A method of managing media content availability in a playlist, themethod comprising: receiving a playlist including a plurality of mediacontent items; identifying, as inaccessible media content items, thosemedia content items included in the playlist that are not accessible dueto a lack of access rights; and for each inaccessible media contentitem, if a different version of that inaccessible media content item isavailable as an accessible media content item, replacing thatinaccessible media content item with the accessible media content itemin the playlist.
 2. The method of claim 1, wherein the inaccessiblemedia content items are not accessible in a market due to a lack ofaccess rights for the market.
 3. The method of claim 1, furthercomprising: if the different version of that inaccessible media contentitem is not available, replacing that inaccessible media content itemwith an available media content item having a similarity associationwith that inaccessible media content item in the playlist.
 4. The methodof claim 3, wherein the similarity association includes one of adifferent song by an artist of the inaccessible media content item, adifferent video by an artist of the inaccessible media content item, asong by a different artist that is similar to an artist of theinaccessible media content item, or a video by a different artist thatis similar to an artist of the inaccessible media content item.
 5. Themethod of claim 1, further comprising: if the different version of thatinaccessible media content item is not available, replacing thatinaccessible media content item with a preview media content item thatis a partial version of that inaccessible media content item.
 6. Themethod of claim 1, further comprising: if the different version of theinaccessible media content item is not available, offering for purchasea persistent download of that inaccessible media content item thatallows that inaccessible media content item to be accessed.
 7. Themethod of claim 1, wherein the plurality of media content items areaccessible via at least one of purchased persistent download,subscription persistent download, subscription non-persistent download,or free non-persistent download.
 8. The method of claim 1, wherein eachmedia content item of the plurality of media content items include anindividualized content identifier that identifies that media contentitem and allows retrieval of access rights for that media content item.9. The method of claim 1, wherein the plurality of media content itemsinclude at least one of audio content items or video content items. 10.A method of managing media content availability in a playlist sharedacross different markets, the method comprising: receiving a playlistincluding a plurality of media content items, each media content itemhaving access rights that define in which markets that media contentitem is accessible; identifying, as inaccessible media content items,those media content items included in the playlist that are notaccessible in a market due to a lack of access rights for the market;and for each inaccessible media content item, if a different version ofthat inaccessible media content item that has access rights for themarket is available as an accessible media content item, replacing thatinaccessible media content item with the accessible media content itemin the playlist.
 11. The method of claim 10, further comprising: if thedifferent version of that inaccessible media content item is notavailable, replacing that inaccessible media content item with anavailable media content item having a similarity association with thatinaccessible media content item.
 12. The method of claim 11, wherein thesimilarity association includes one of a different song by an artist ofthe inaccessible media content item, a different video by an artist ofthe inaccessible media content item, a song by a different artist thatis similar to an artist of the inaccessible media content item, or avideo by a different artist that is similar to an artist of theinaccessible media content item.
 13. The method of claim 10, furthercomprising: if the different version of the inaccessible media contentitem is not available, replacing that inaccessible media content itemwith a preview media content item that is a partial version of thatinaccessible media content item.
 14. The method of claim 10, furthercomprising: if the different version of the inaccessible media contentitem is not available, offering for purchase a persistent download ofthat inaccessible media content item that allows that inaccessible mediacontent item to be accessed.
 15. The method of claim 10, wherein eachmedia content item included in the playlist is accessible in a differentmarket from which the playlist was sent.
 16. The method of claim 10,wherein each media content item of the plurality of media content itemsinclude an individualized content identifier that identifies that mediacontent item and allows retrieval of access rights for that mediacontent item.
 17. A method of managing media content availability in aplaylist shared across different markets, the method comprising:receiving a playlist including a plurality of media content items, eachmedia content item having access rights that define in which marketsthat media content item is accessible; identifying, as inaccessiblemedia content items, those media content items included in the playlistthat cannot be non-persistently downloaded in a market due to a lack ofnon-persistent download rights for the market; for each inaccessiblemedia content item, if a different version of that inaccessible mediacontent item that has non-persistent download rights for the market isavailable for non-persistent download as an accessible media contentitem, replacing that inaccessible media content item with the accessiblemedia content item in the playlist; and if the different version of thatinaccessible media content item is not available for non-persistentdownload, offering for purchase a persistent download of theinaccessible media content item that allows that inaccessible mediacontent item to be accessed.
 18. The method of claim 17, wherein eachmedia content item included in the playlist is accessible vianon-persistent download in a different market from which the playlistwas sent.
 19. The method of claim 17, wherein each media content item ofthe plurality of media content items include an individualized contentidentifier that identifies that media content item and allows retrievalof the access rights for that media content item.
 20. The method ofclaim 17, wherein the plurality of media content items include at leastone of an audio content item or a video content item.